Russell's Rebrand

0:00 USA.

0:00 I've got some shows coming up in a few weeks.

0:02 Salt Lake City, Denver, Phoenix, OKC, San Antonio, Austin, Houston, and Dallas.

0:07 These shows are like 2 weeks away.

0:09 So, if you haven't got your tickets yet,

0:10 click the link in my bio and I'll see you there.

0:12 Enjoy the video, folks.

0:14 Emergency video alert.

0:15 Over the years, I have talked about many men,

0:17 pickup artists, self-help gurus, alpha males, you name it.

0:21 And they've all got their fun, silly little quirks about them,

0:24 but they all have one thing in common,

0:26 and that is their unbridled, deep-seated, insatiable hatred for women.

0:31 They just can't stand them, dude.

0:32 They love manly things and being a man.

0:35 But if you put a W and an O in front of that, whoa, look out.

0:40 We've got breaking news about one of these dudes

0:42 that I've talked about on this channel two times already,

0:45 and that man is Russell Hartley.

0:48 I really thought I was done talking about this guy,

0:50 but somehow Palpatine has returned.

0:52 Let's do a quick recap on the Russell Hartley

0:55 saga just to get you all up to speed.

0:57 Five years ago now, I made a video titled Tik Tok's Worst Dating Coach.

1:01 In this video, I talked about a man named Russell Hartley,

1:04 who at the time he was making these very weird, misogynistic Tik Toks.

1:08 The most notable being one where he compared women to horses.

1:12 A stable is a rotation of women that you have available to you

1:15 that you can hit up and they can go on dates with.

1:17 So, what this means if you're a bachelor is

1:19 that every time you have sex with a new woman,

1:20 that's a new mare in your stable.

1:22 But when the mayor

1:22 He also made the claim that women live life on easy mode.

1:25 I keep seeing so much lately that women are living their life on easy mode.

1:28 And I'm here to tell you that that's absolutely true.

1:30 In that video, I did a little deep dive.

1:32 I guess that's an oxymoron.

1:33 I did a shallow dive into his operation.

1:35 At that time, he was selling a course through his business called Get Coaching.

1:39 And this course was about attracting your dream partner.

1:42 Just the classic pickup artist[ __] And shortly after I uploaded that video,

1:46 Russell made a reaction video to mine that I

1:49 then talked about on my podcast called Very, really good.

1:52 You should go subscribe.

1:54 And that's what halfbaked journalism gets you.

1:56 Curtis Connors just says my name wrong.

1:59 And after I uploaded that podcast episode, uh, he took down his reaction video.

2:03 So, caught the dub on that one, I think.

2:05 And after that, there was nothing for a while.

2:07 But unfortunately, at the end of 2022, I made a video about Siren Agency,

2:12 a company actually co-founded by Russell Hartley.

2:15 That's when I find out Siren Agency, one of the co-owners, Russell Heartley.

2:20 And Siren Agency was a company that was uh managing Only

2:23 Fans creators and allegedly taking up to 50% of their earnings.

2:28 Then it turns out you have to give them 50% of your earnings on your spicy site.

2:33 But since 2022, it's been all quiet on the Russell Hartley front.

2:36 That is until I checked my mentions on Tik Tok

2:39 a few weeks ago and this is what I see.

2:41 Listen, if a man asks you what you bring to the table,

2:44 that man has a low credit score.

2:47 Women should be gold diggers.

2:49 Women should look for a provider.

2:51 What's wrong with that?

2:53 If a man cares about how much money you make, he's scheming.

2:57 If you don't think you should provide for your woman,

2:59 you should just date a man.

3:02 Okay, so he canceled the date.

3:03 How do I reject him?

3:04 Block him.

3:06 This caught me like way off guard.

3:08 The last thing I was anticipating in 2025 was a Russell Hartley rebrand

3:13 because on the surface this seems like

3:15 an improvement from his older content, right?

3:17 Which isn't saying much, but the more I looked into Russell's rebrand,

3:20 the more questions I had.

3:22 So, for this video, I thought we would take a deep

3:24 deep dive and then maybe by the end of this video,

3:26 we can discern if this is genuine or not.

3:31 So Russell still has me blocked on Tik Tok,

3:33 so I had to use a burner account to see his videos.

3:36 But this shift in his content actually began way back in 2023 where

3:40 he was doing his usual style of content and then he posted this video.

3:44 What's wrong with women liking successful guys?

3:47 Keep seeing these hidden camera videos where the girl

3:49 like hops in the guy's Lambo and he's like,

3:51 "Oh, you're on camera cuz you're a gold digger." All right, first off,

3:54 I don't think I've seen a gold digger exposed video since like 2013.

3:58 So, Buddy's a little behind with the trends,

4:00 but usually the sentiment behind those videos are like, "Oh, women are bad.

4:04 They just want you for your money."

4:05 And he doesn't blatantly say that, which is good.

4:08 I will say though, I don't think being

4:09 a gold digger is necessarily a good thing, though, right?

4:13 I think you should obviously love someone for who they are.

4:15 But hey, if you're solely into someone for their money

4:18 and the other person is aware of that, then screw it, you know?

4:21 Do whatever you want.

4:21 And honestly, he probably could have just left the video at that.

4:24 But unfortunately, uh, as always, he kept talking.

4:27 I like women who have nice taste.

4:29 I want them to have expensive things, nice earrings, nice jewelry, whatever.

4:34 Because when she's out in the world, that's a representation of me.

4:37 And if she's not balling, then that makes me look bad as a man.

4:41 Had me in the first half there.

4:43 Pretty much just said, "Yeah, the only reason I have a girlfriend is

4:46 to make me look good." That's[ __] crazy, dude.

4:48 My girlfriend's got to be dressed to the nines at all times.

4:52 that I make my girlfriend sleep in a Gucci dress, red bottom Louis Vuitton,

4:57 and she's got to be in full glam just

4:59 in case we get robbed in the middle of the night.

5:01 I would hate for those robbers to think I don't have

5:03 a bunch of money and nice things in the house they're currently robbing.

5:07 And as you can see on his old Tik Tok videos,

5:09 a lot of them weren't really cracking 100,000 views

5:11 until he posted the one that I just showed you, which got over 600,000 views.

5:16 And ever since that video,

5:17 he's been posting content that's very

5:19 pro-rich man and also like traditive videos, I guess you could call them.

5:24 What do women bring to the table?

5:26 If the table is the relationship,

5:28 a man's responsibility is typically to put the meat on the table.

5:32 Pause.

5:33 Bro,

5:33 it's a man's duty to flop their wiener on the table.

5:36 And the woman's responsibility is typically to set the table.

5:40 And what that means is that a woman civilizes a man.

5:44 They do this sort of instinctually.

5:46 It's like a part of their process of selecting a mate.

5:49 Like they're looking for the potential in men.

5:50 And it's like again, I guess these videos are better than his old videos,

5:54 but I don't think these are necessarily good by any means.

5:58 The videos he's making now are still like a little misogynistic,

6:01 but they're just like disguised a little bit.

6:02 You know, before he was just like, "Yo,

6:04 women are literally farm animals." But now he's just

6:06 like he's like put a bow tie on everything

6:08 cuz in the videos he's like kind of insinuating

6:10 that women like can't achieve wealth on their own.

6:13 whether you like it or not, women like men who can provide for them.

6:16 And he's also encouraging these traditional patriarchal gender

6:19 roles where the man has to be the provider,

6:21 you know, and flop his wiener on the table,

6:23 then the girl just stays home and puts pie

6:26 on a window sill to cool all day long, you know?

6:28 Like I feel like he still doesn't fully understand like modern relationships.

6:32 Why would a woman be with a man in the first

6:35 place if he's not going to provide for them?

6:38 I don't know, man.

6:39 love, a romantic attraction, maybe perhaps a deep emotional connection

6:43 with another human being that transcends monetary value.

6:46 I don't know.

6:46 Like, what the[ __] dude?

6:47 When I first met my now wife, Jenna, I had zero money.

6:52 Goose egg.

6:52 I wish I had a goose egg.

6:53 I could sell it.

6:54 I didn't.

6:54 I had nothing.

6:55 I didn't even have that, dude.

6:56 I was in college with student loans, so essentially I had negative money.

6:59 My bank account was[ __] gluten-free, dude, cuz I had no bread.

7:03 But she didn't care about that because she liked me for me.

7:06 She likes me for me.

7:07 she liked me as a person, right?

7:09 But hey, you know, what do I know?

7:10 I'm just happily married to the love of my life and this guy is not.

7:16 So, around the end of last year,

7:17 Russell started doing these like Tik Tok

7:19 live streams and then he would like clip

7:21 segments from the live stream and upload them as clips to his Tik Tok account.

7:26 And that Russell Hartley core video that I showed you earlier,

7:29 I believe like a majority of those clips are taken from his live streams.

7:32 And during these streams, he'll talk to his audience about like dating

7:36 in general and mostly around dating rich men.

7:38 And the first live stream clip he posted was titled How to be a gold digger.

7:43 And it is way too long.

7:44 I'm not going to play the whole thing,

7:45 but it essentially boiled down to uh if you want to start dating a rich man,

7:49 you just have to start working all the time.

7:52 So whenever the rich man asks you what you're up to, you're like, "Oh, sorry.

7:56 I can't I got I don't know.

7:57 I'm a a nighttime bartender or whatever." And then when

8:00 the rich man hears that, he's going to be like, "Okay, well,

8:03 I'll just pay you what you would have made tonight

8:05 at work." And then you can come hang out with me instead.

8:08 And then you just do that forever.

8:10 I guess I'll just cover your night so you can just come over here instead.

8:12 That's how it works with rich man.

8:14 I promise you, fellas, I don't care how rich you are.

8:17 Don't do that.

8:18 I know it sounds crazy, but some girls actually enjoy what they do for work.

8:22 What the[ __] Imagine like a rich guy

8:24 talking to like a trauma surgeon and doing that.

8:26 I'll just pay you what you usually make and then you come hang out with me.

8:29 And then they're out to dinner while there's

8:30 a guy like bleeding out to death or something.

8:32 And that how to be a gold digger video got over a million views.

8:36 So he's been posting that exact same content

8:38 ever since and it's performing like really well consistently.

8:41 I got to hand it to him.

8:42 It's like he's like getting more views than he did like back in 2020.

8:45 So the rebrand seems successful, right?

8:47 He went from having a primarily male

8:49 audience in 2020 using language that would appeal

8:53 to young single men that would in turn

8:55 convert into them buying his dating course or whatever.

8:59 And there's actual proof of this on his website.

9:01 To this day, there's a bunch of testimonials

9:03 from people who bought his texting course.

9:06 They're all from dudes that are just like,

9:07 "Thank you so much, Russell, for teaching me how to text girls.

9:11 The course so far has gotten me cheesy.

9:13 Great stuff." But a scroll through his comment

9:15 section today paints a wildly different picture.

9:18 Now his audience are mostly women who are commenting stuff like,

9:21 "Keep me on the rich algorithm, please.

9:24 Who are you and why are you a girl's girl?

9:26 You need to be a girl dad.

9:28 I'm not so sure about that one." Based on Russell's past behavior,

9:31 his daughter would come home from her first

9:33 shift at Starbucks or something and he'd be like,

9:35 "And I'll be taking my 50% cut.

9:37 Thank you so much." And the general reaction

9:38 to this new style of content has been mostly positive,

9:41 but there has been a fair amount of negative feedback as well.

9:43 So, let's take a look at that.

9:44 Ladies, please do your own research

9:46 before falling for blank statements like this.

9:47 This man is just capitalizing on what he thinks women want to hear.

9:50 Hating women didn't work, so now he's going to try hating on men.

9:53 Nailed it, dude.

9:54 I'm going to give that comment five big boom.

9:56 Boom.

9:57 Boom.

9:58 He straight up used to be like, "Women live life on easy mode,

10:01 and women are horses in your stable, and give me 50% of your money." Allegedly.

10:06 But since that obviously didn't work out very well,

10:08 he's completely switched to the other side and now he's like,

10:10 "Gos, not me being one of the girls." And guys, obviously people can change.

10:15 I know that we've all done things in our past we're not proud of.

10:18 And in a perfect world, I would love to take all of this content

10:21 at face value and be like, "Okay, great.

10:23 He's a little better now.

10:25 Yay." But I just I don't know, man.

10:26 It's one thing when like a fully grown adult is

10:29 called out for something they did when they were a teenager,

10:32 but I think we should be a little more skeptical when just a few

10:36 years ago this dude co-found a company

10:39 that was allegedly taking 50% of women's earnings.

10:43 Dude, like that's going to take a little bit to get past, you know?

10:45 Like that is just straight up evil behavior.

10:47 I don't think you do that if you're illinformed

10:49 or like that that doesn't accidentally happen, you know?

10:52 Your honor, owning that agency was a complete mistake.

10:54 I fell down on a bunch of paperwork

10:56 in the business registry office and I accidentally created a legit

11:01 LLC and then my phone was hacked and someone

11:03 made all those websites and sent all those DMs.

11:06 I'm a good guy.

11:07 There was another video I saw from a creator named Makeup Fresh

11:10 and they brought up a really good point about Russell's rebrand as well.

11:13 That man was a womanhating Grifter and now he is a manhating Grifter.

11:19 Sorry, Grifter.

11:20 I hardly ever.

11:21 They have specific stances like him, his new stance.

11:25 He should be talking to men, not women.

11:28 He should be talking to men because he,

11:30 if he really believed what he was saying,

11:32 he would want men to change, not women.

11:35 That's a good point.

11:36 Like, if your whole thing is being a rich,

11:37 successful man, why not just preach to men about those values?

11:41 Straight up.

11:41 I feel like he squeezed like every penny he could out of like lonely single men.

11:46 And now that the well is dry,

11:47 he's trying to do the same thing to like lonely single women.

11:50 And there are tons of videos like

11:51 this of people like critiquing this new Russell rebrand.

11:54 And this next one in particular got one

11:56 and a half million views and 200,000 likes.

11:59 So it's nice knowing that I'm like I'm not alone in this situation.

12:02 Other people feel this way.

12:03 So that's good.

12:04 If you're believing anything that this grifter[ __] says,

12:08 you should not be dating cuz you need you need

12:09 to tighten up a little bit cuz you're going to get played.

12:11 And also, dude, his whole thing is men should be providing for their partner.

12:15 Rich men can get any girl they want.

12:17 Gold diggers are awesome.

12:18 Then, bro, where is the woman you're providing for?

12:22 As far as I can see, anywhere online, this is a single man.

12:25 Practice what you preach, dude.

12:27 What the[ __] This is like when Galado did that Huawei phone

12:30 advertisement on her Twitter page where she posted the ad from her iPhone.

12:34 It's the exact same thing, dude.

12:36 Ain't it just the worst when someone promotes something they don't actually use?

12:39 Well, I'm happy to tell you that's

12:41 not the case with today's sponsor, Midas Merge.

12:44 Guys, Midasmer Merge sponsored one of my videos 2 months ago,

12:47 and straight up, I've been playing this game ever since then.

12:49 If you've never heard of Midas Merge, let me explain it real quick.

12:52 Midas Merge is a merge three game where

12:54 players combine creatures and treasures strategically, completing quests,

12:57 and harnessing the sun's energy to dispel the darkness cast by Nyx,

13:01 the goddess of night.

13:02 And folks, this game is so adorable.

13:04 It's insane.

13:05 And I'm really glad I gave it a chance because honestly,

13:07 this is not the type of game that I would think to start playing.

13:10 But it really is a lot of fun and super rewarding.

13:12 You get all these cute little creatures that you can evolve by merging items.

13:16 My favorite are the crystal fawns,

13:17 which can transform into these even cuter level three creatures.

13:21 Adorable.

13:21 And like I said, in the world of Midas Merge,

13:24 the gardens of gold have been cast under shadow by the evil goddess of night.

13:27 And you have to restore brightness to the garden and free its inhabitants.

13:31 And I really love the gameplay because you're

13:33 able to like clearly see your progression over time.

13:35 And it's super satisfying figuring out ways to merge your way through the map.

13:38 And one of my least favorite things about most mobile games

13:41 these days is they always need to be connected to the internet.

13:43 But get this, you can dive

13:44 into the enchanting world of Midas Merge anytime, anywhere.

13:48 No Wi-Fi needed.

13:49 Dude, I went to New York a few weeks ago and I was playing

13:51 this game 30,000 ft in the air when my phone was on airplane mode.

13:55 Midas Merge is also free to download and adree with no dead ends.

13:59 So you can always merge and explore without interruptions.

14:02 And I've got exciting news.

14:03 Be among the first 100 to install via my link

14:06 or the QR code on screen and receive a unique Mox level one.

14:10 This cute little creature boosts your garden

14:12 progress and will be personalized with my name.

14:15 What the heck?

14:16 So don't miss out and download now by clicking the link

14:18 in the description or scanning the QR code on screen right now.

14:21 I've truly been having a blast playing Midas Merge the past few months.

14:24 Like I said before, it's genuinely such a rewarding and enjoyable game,

14:27 and I seriously cannot recommend it enough to you guys because

14:30 once you start merging and uncovering all these adorable little surprises,

14:33 you'll be hooked immediately.

14:35 Thank you so much to Midasmer Merge for sponsoring this video.

14:37 Back to the video.

14:39 But again, who knows?

14:40 You know, maybe he is a changed man.

14:42 I watched a video on his YouTube channel where he reacted to his old Tik Toks.

14:46 And to his credit, he admits that the stable

14:49 comparison he used was a little insensitive.

14:51 The stable part, I get that.

14:53 I honestly looking back on it now,

14:54 I get where people can see that and be like, "Whoa, hang on a second.

14:58 Well, women are horses."

14:59 Okay.

14:59 Well, no.

15:00 I guess he just said he sees why people would interpret it as misogynistic.

15:04 He never actually claims that it was,

15:06 and that's always a good way to take accountability.

15:09 Sorry, you felt that way.

15:10 That's on you.

15:10 I didn't even know horses could get offended.

15:12 But then there's another part of the video where

15:13 he talks about like all the backlash he received.

15:16 And he said it was like a really difficult time.

15:18 I lost businesses.

15:19 My my mother was getting death threats and doxed and I

15:22 had to move and people were filming me outside my house.

15:24 It was like a whole thing.

15:26 And obviously I don't support any of that no

15:29 matter who I'm talking about in my videos.

15:30 Like it's never the goal is to be like, "Yeah,

15:32 let's[ __] ruin their lives." That's[ __] like don't send death threats.

15:34 Obvious especially not to someone's mom, dude.

15:37 That's crazy.

15:37 Like if someone sent a death threat to my mom, I'd be[ __] pissed, dude.

15:40 The only the only person who could threaten to kill my mom is me when

15:44 she told me I was playing too much Left for Dead on my Xbox 360.

15:47 And yes, that happened last week.

15:49 But he does say that he learned a lot from his mistakes.

15:51 Learned a lot of lessons uh and I

15:53 definitely at over time have learned um about myself,

15:57 about kind of what I want to be.

15:59 He then went on to denounce Red Pill podcast as a whole,

16:02 which I think is also good.

16:03 The Red Pill men's podcast style sit at a round

16:07 table where it's just a bunch of men

16:09 in their 30s and 40s berating women and I never wanted to be a part of that.

16:14 Those guys invited me to their show a couple of times and I never did it.

16:17 And I think you can be the judge of all this at the end of the day,

16:19 but we do have more things to discuss about this whole situation

16:22 that I think will help you make up your mind in the end.

16:24 So, Russell has been putting in work on this rebrand.

16:27 Dude, in my Siren Agency video, I referenced an article that they paid to have

16:32 published so they could seem like a legitimate business.

16:34 And history repeats itself because we've got another paid article

16:38 to coincide with Russell's rebrand from the iconic Los Angeles Wire.

16:43 Why are you publishing this?

16:44 You can see at the top there it says branded content

16:47 and on their site it says we may have been compensated by the contributor

16:51 who wrote the contributor content or whose product or service is the subject

16:55 of the article in exchange for publishing

16:57 the article as so-called native advertising.

17:00 So this is not an article that a journalist

17:02 wrote because it was an interesting story to tell.

17:05 This was paid for by Russell or someone on Russell's team.

17:09 I don't know exactly who paid for it or maybe

17:11 has a secret admirer that just was really rooting for him.

17:14 It's also[ __] poorly written as well.

17:16 It seems like someone went to chat GBT and was like,

17:18 "Can you write a nice article about me?

17:20 I'm Russell Hartley.

17:21 Can you write write a nice article about me?" Here's a few excerpts.

17:24 The secret behind Hartley's appeal lies in his authenticity and relatability.

17:28 Unlike many influencers who curate

17:30 their online personas to match perceived expectations,

17:33 Hartley remains true to himself, an approach that has endeared him to millions.

17:37 Yeah, that's true.

17:38 He's remained true to himself for years.

17:40 He's always had the same opinions.

17:43 He has never switched up or anything.

17:45 And here's the end, which is my favorite.

17:47 In conclusion, though subtly so, Russell Artley stands at the forefront

17:51 of a cultural shift facilitated by social media,

17:55 yet rooted deeply in timeless values.

17:57 as one of Tik Tok's most eligible bachelor continues to spread

18:01 his message far wide through captivating content coupled with actionable advice,

18:06 whatever the[ __] that means.

18:07 If you handed this in for like a sixth grade English project,

18:10 you'd[ __] fail, dude.

18:11 This is dog[ __] I also found this Yahoo Finance

18:14 article that's pretty much the exact same as the other one,

18:17 they've just changed a few words around slightly.

18:19 Like at the end instead of in conclusion

18:21 though subtly so they put in summary albeit subtly.

18:25 Just so like what the[ __] are these man?

18:27 If he actually did pay for these I hope he asked for a refund dude.

18:30 I don't think these accomplished anything at all.

18:32 And if you think the photo in this article

18:34 looks like a paparazzi pick uh that's because it is.

18:37 That is a real paparazzi photo of Russell Hartley.

18:39 Wow.

18:40 And I found the paparazzi video that goes along with it and it is[ __] bizarre.

18:44 So I really want to show that to you guys.

18:45 is from a channel called Rav and this video is

18:47 titled Russell Hartley USA most eligible bachelor talks outside boa

18:53 what's up guys how's it going

18:56 oh sorry I didn't even know you were coming out right now

18:59 my[ __] I'm off and everything you just have dinner or what

19:01 yeah we just uh catch up with some friends at Boa

19:04 what's up man what's up what's up is the food

19:06 here at Boa I never I never eat here

19:08 I love boa I come here all the time I live here in the hills so

19:11 okay so you're convenient for me

19:13 I feel like I you're the guy I see like on Tik talking stuff, right?

19:16 Oh, brother.

19:17 This guy stinks.

19:19 Come on, man.

19:20 Come on.

19:21 You expect me to believe this celebrity paparazzi was just waiting outside

19:27 of this restaurant for an A-list celebrity to walk out and then he was like,

19:31 "Oh[ __] no way.

19:32 It's that Tik Tok live streamer." Like, no shot, dude.

19:35 What did I see?

19:36 Was it the USA's most eligible bachelor?

19:39 Yeah.

19:39 What did I see?

19:40 What did I see in the email that you sent me prior to this?

19:42 For real, though, how did that happen?

19:44 And what did you think when you saw that?

19:48 It's I[ __] love this paparazzi, dude.

19:49 He is giving it his all.

19:51 How did that happen?

19:52 And what did you think when you saw that?

19:53 Well, it's funny because I started talking about like

19:56 like men paying on dates and stuff like that.

19:57 I know.

19:58 I was looking at your stuff actually just the other day to be honest.

20:01 Yeah.

20:00 __] slow day in LA.

20:02 If the paparazzi are taking pictures of this[ __] guy, dude.

20:05 Anyways, the paparazzi then segus into a very normal

20:08 and natural question that perfectly coincides with Russell Harley's rebrand.

20:12 When I look at the comments though, I do feel like it's mostly like

20:16 women that are commenting and it's pretty positive.

20:19 Russell doesn't actually get the opportunity to respond to this observation

20:22 because the paparazzi is just so jazzed about this entire interaction.

20:27 How you doing by the way?

20:28 My name is Will.

20:29 How you doing, Julie?

20:29 Um, okay.

20:30 Wait, are you still bachelor?

20:32 Russell then shows off his McLaren and gives

20:34 some advice to the eligible bachelors out there.

20:37 What would be your advice?

20:38 What would be your advice?

20:40 Just be a gentle.

20:40 The video ends with the paparazzi giggling at how nice these cars are.

20:44 Both of those are nice.

20:45 And again, maybe this is real.

20:47 Maybe this paparazzi guy just so happened to be outside of this restaurant

20:51 and then a tick tocker walked out and he was like, "Yes,

20:55 all the hours waiting was worth it." I

20:57 knew ignoring Justin Bieber was a good idea,

21:00 so I had enough room on my memory card for Russell Hartley, you know.

21:03 And then he got this great piece of content.

21:05 Who knows?

21:05 It does seem a little manufactured though, I will say.

21:08 And celebrities call the paparazzi on themselves all the[ __] time.

21:11 So, I think this was probably pre-planned in advance

21:14 because the fact that it wasn't just photos,

21:16 like it was a full video of him asking a bunch

21:18 of specific questions that perfectly align with Russell's new image.

21:22 Like, he's a little fishy, right?

21:23 And looking at this paparazzi guy's other videos,

21:25 it seems like people reach out to this guy

21:28 just to promote whatever they have going on.

21:30 For example, this video with a rapper named Yaki.

21:33 In the video, she's in like a random shopping plaza

21:36 and this paparazzi guy just so happens to be there also.

21:40 Now, I had seen online that you were going

21:42 to be doing something like here soon in LA.

21:44 Is that coming up or I don't even know?

21:46 I

21:46 I don't even know.

21:47 Or I don't even know.

21:48 I I don't know.

21:48 You do know coming up or I don't even know.

21:50 That's so funny to think of a paparazzi

21:52 who's just like way too specific about this[ __]

21:55 Oh, I didn't even know you were going to be here.

21:57 I love your Tik Toks.

21:58 Yeah.

21:58 Thanks, man.

21:59 Hey, tell me about that donation you made this morning.

22:01 Oh my god, that's so embarrassing.

22:02 I didn't even know you knew about that.

22:04 Uh yeah, so basically I donated uh $10,000 to the ocean.

22:08 Oh, awesome.

22:09 Uh tell me about the um Sorry.

22:13 Do you do you really want me to say this?

22:15 What am I paying you for?

22:16 Okay.

22:19 Tell me about the uh penis shortening surgery you had.

22:23 Oh, okay.

22:24 This guy did his research.

22:26 Uh yeah, it was just too big, man.

22:28 All the girls were complaining about it.

22:31 You guys, you guys hear that?

22:32 Shut your[ __] mouth.

22:33 Can you uh can you pay me now?

22:35 Pay you with what?

22:36 I threw all my money in the ocean.

22:37 No offense to the rapper for doing this if this was all pre-planned.

22:41 It's so much work to get people to come out to shows.

22:43 And this is a pretty smart way of doing that.

22:44 So, I'm not trying to like dunk on that person.

22:46 I'm just using that as an example.

22:48 Back to Russell.

22:48 Okay, I'll say it.

22:49 This rebrand is rubbing me the wrong way.

22:51 I think if he was actually a changed person because of his past mistakes,

22:56 I think he would just be that, you know,

22:59 like it'd be kind of crazy to make all those personal changes in private,

23:02 you know, to like genuinely better yourself and then to be like, "All right,

23:06 now it's time to pay a publicist so people know

23:08 that I'm a good guy." Like that just seems disingenuous to me.

23:11 I feel like he's spending more time on the optics

23:14 of the rebrand than actually like trying to be a better person, right?

23:18 Okay, so while I was editing this video, I found something pretty crazy.

23:21 I was reading that Yahoo Finance article,

23:24 and at the top it said, "This is a paid press release.

23:28 Contact the press release distributor directly with any

23:31 inquiries." And if you scroll down to the bottom,

23:33 it says the press contact is Glazers Media.

23:36 Bro's glazing.

23:37 So, I looked up Glazers Media and I went

23:39 to their website and it is[ __] wild, dude.

23:41 There's a little bio on their front page and then a little further down,

23:44 they outline their threestep process.

23:47 Step one, follow the money.

23:49 Optimize your offering.

23:50 Determine how attention will make you money.

23:53 Step number two, sell your story.

23:56 Figure out where your audience is and tell your story there.

23:58 Book, videos, etc.

24:00 And then step number three, amplify.

24:03 Use media like press, TV, podcasts, live stages, influencers, etc.

24:08 to amplify your story.

24:10 And it's pretty crazy cuz this three-step process is

24:12 pretty much exactly what's happening in front of us.

24:15 determine how attention will make you money.

24:17 He's getting a lot of attention and making money from it.

24:20 Sell your story.

24:20 And I I guess he assumed his audience

24:22 is watching random paparazzi videos on YouTube.

24:25 So that's what they did in step three, dude.

24:26 Like they used articles, paparazzi, even morning news.

24:30 Russell Hartley is here to share why

24:32 he's known as Tik Tok's most eligible bachelor.

24:37 I'm not against PR firms.

24:38 Obviously, that's like a huge part of the entertainment industry,

24:40 but it seems like Glazers Media in particular has a uh a specialty

24:44 because it says on their website that they specialize in reputation management.

24:49 Get uncancled.

24:51 Better yet, build a wall.

24:53 E-News published Glazers Media CEO as number one on the list

24:56 of top reputation management experts celebrities turn to in crisis.

25:01 But we don't just work with celebrities.

25:02 We first amplify your side of the story through positive press.

25:06 Second, suppress the negative false narrative using top SEO methods.

25:11 Third, permanently deindex and remove defamatory content

25:15 using a vast legal network of intellectual property,

25:18 copyright, trademark, and defamation experts.

25:20 It's as easy as one, two, three.

25:22 And the cherry on top of all of that is the thing they use to advertise

25:27 this aspect of the business is a picture

25:29 of the Glazers Media CEO posing with Tucker Carlson.

25:36 My dog hates Tucker Carlson, man.

25:38 Oh, and also at the bottom of the page

25:40 to further legitimize the CEO of Glazers Media,

25:43 there's an article titled photos of Veto

25:45 Glazers with Andrew and Tristan Tate resurface.

25:49 Just a little tip, if you ever want to advertise like how awesome you are,

25:52 don't cite an article that has the word resurface in the title.

25:56 You know, feel like nothing good has ever resurfaced.

25:58 And dude, this is all on their like public website

26:01 that I really didn't have to look that hard to find.

26:03 Dude, this is insane.

26:04 So, yeah, man.

26:05 Uh, after seeing all this[ __] I

26:07 am fully convinced this rebrand is 100% manufactured.

26:11 I[ __] don't believe it for a second.

26:12 And I[ __] wish I saw this before I filmed everything because everything I talk

26:15 about later in this video makes so much more sense now after seeing all this.

26:19 Yeah, I just thought that was interesting and wanted to include it in the video.

26:22 Back to me.

26:23 I think influencer rebranding in general is a pretty

26:25 tricky subject because when a company rebrands, you know,

26:28 they switch up their logo or they switch up their slogan or something,

26:31 but they essentially have the same product.

26:33 When an influencer rebrands,

26:35 I always feel really weird about it because that's like a human being.

26:39 You know what I mean?

26:40 It's a person.

26:41 That's like a human person with like emotions and memories.

26:44 Like they're not like a product.

26:45 It's weird, right?

26:46 For example, when David Dori almost[ __] killed Jeff Whitick

26:49 and then all those other crazy allegations were popping up.

26:52 He took a few years off and then he came back and he was like,

26:54 "Hey guys, I'm back with muscles now.

26:57 Yep.

26:57 The guy you hate is out of shape and I'm not.

27:01 Therefore, you don't hate me." And obviously people

27:03 don't stay the exact same their entire lives.

27:05 That'd be insane.

27:06 And when it comes to a purely creative endeavor,

27:08 I think rebranding is necessary not to[ __] lose your mind.

27:11 I think the videos I'm making now are a little different

27:13 than the ones I made like[ __] like 5 years ago, right?

27:16 Even though this is a continuation of a video I made 5 years ago, no.

27:19 Like[ __] Addison Ray used to be a Hype House member,

27:22 Tik Tok dancer, and now she's like

27:24 a popular musician performing with Charlie XCX.

27:26 Jojo Seiwa used to be like a kids musician and now

27:30 she's I I don't really know what she's doing now,

27:34 but you know, it's it's different.

27:36 But when you use your platform to solely get attention from a certain group

27:41 of people to then leverage that attention just to sell a[ __] product, i.e.

27:46 Russell's old coaching programs,

27:48 it's hard to believe your new outlook on life is

27:50 genuine when you're essentially doing the same thing you did before,

27:53 but just with a different audience, right?

27:55 Which brings us to why I think he's doing all of this.

27:59 Money.

28:00 When you go to his Tik Tok page on your burner account because he blocked you,

28:02 he has a pinned playlist titled Get a A Bag of Money.

28:06 Click here.

28:06 And in this playlist, there are two videos.

28:08 Guys know what's happening with this Tik Tok shop thing.

28:10 Stay at home mom's making a ton of money.

28:13 Like insane levels of money on Tik Tok right now.

28:16 Like crazy amount.

28:17 Like it's in like it's actually crazy.

28:19 I work with Tik Tok directly.

28:20 I've been on social media a long time.

28:22 Okay, sorry.

28:22 Saying I work with Tik Tok directly is[ __] so funny, dude.

28:25 Could not be more vague.

28:26 I actually work with Tik Tok directly.

28:28 There's a little button on my phone with the Tik Tok logo and when I press it,

28:32 Tik Tok opens directly on my phone.

28:35 Beat that, dude.

28:35 I'm going to start telling people I work for Google.

28:37 All right, that's the exact same[ __] I'll show you.

28:39 I'll put together a little packet.

28:41 A packet?

28:42 If you would just get up and teach

28:43 them instead of handing them a freaking packet, yo.

28:46 All right, sorry.

28:47 Let's watch the second video.

28:48 Uh, the caption is, "It's a gold rush right now."

28:51 How do you make my girls listen?

28:53 Right now, my latest project is I'm working with Tik Tok.

28:55 I'm Tik Tok shop partner.

28:56 The shop right now is crazy.

28:58 Women are making money.

29:00 You won't need a man.

29:02 It's like that right now.

29:03 It's insane.

29:06 Whoa.

29:06 You hear that?

29:07 Ladies, you won't even need a man.

29:10 Ladies, doesn't that make you feel awesome?

29:12 Like, how the[ __] would someone hear that and be like, "Yeah, no.

29:14 This is That's a girl's girl right there, dude." Like, that's so insulting.

29:18 The only way that you could support yourself financially is

29:20 with a rich man or clicking the link in my bio, Queen.

29:24 Uh he also has a little blurb in his uh Tik Tok bio that says

29:27 make money on TT and it points to a link and when you go

29:30 to that site you get this and as you can see this is on getcoaching.io

29:38 as in I owe a bunch of Only Fans creators a bunch of money allegedly.

29:42 No, this is his coaching website that he was using all the way back in 2020.

29:45 How to make money on Tik Tok with Russell Hartley by reviewing

29:48 products that you get for free from the Tik Tok shop.

29:50 breaking down how people are making money

29:52 by reviewing products on TikTok with Russell Harley.

29:54 There's a little write up about him and at the bottom

29:56 of the page there's a button to sign up for the free live training.

30:00 Whoa, free live training.

30:02 So maybe he isn't doing this for money after all.

30:04 That's so sweet of him, man.

30:05 He's teaching people ways to make money out of the kindness of his own heart.

30:09 So obviously I signed up for this free live training and I can confirm it didn't

30:14 ask me for any credit card details or anything

30:17 to sign up for the actual training session.

30:19 So, I watched the live training and I I learned a lot.

30:22 This webinar was about an hour and a half

30:24 long and Russell went through all the details

30:26 on how people are making insane amounts of money

30:28 right now uh using the Tik Tok shop.

30:30 He starts off the presentation by giving a brief

30:33 uh explanation on affiliate marketing on Tik Tok shop.

30:36 People are making Tik Tok videos selling and promoting products

30:40 for the viewers consumption and getting paid directly through Tik Tok.

30:43 Transparently, this was all news to me because we

30:45 actually don't have Tik Tok shop up here in Canada.

30:48 I straight up heard about Tik Tok Shop for the first time like a few months ago.

30:52 But if you're unfamiliar with affiliate marketing,

30:54 a company will give their product to a creator,

30:58 usually for free, and that creator will post about said product,

31:02 and if any of their followers purchase that product using their link,

31:05 that creator gets a percentage of that purchase.

31:08 And this has been around for a very long time online,

31:10 but it is especially lucrative on Tik Tok shop because

31:13 the shopping aspect is directly integrated into the video platform.

31:17 So, if you see a video of a creator like advertising a product,

31:20 it just takes a few taps on the app and you've

31:22 already purchased it and then you can keep using the app.

31:24 Like, it's pretty seamless.

31:25 So, what the hell does Russell Hartley do in that equation?

31:28 Don't worry, he'll get there.

31:29 First, he's got to play a clip from a share interview.

31:31 When you get older, I wish you'd hurry to get older

31:33 so that you would settle down and marry a rich man.

31:36 And I said, "Mom, I am a rich man."

31:37 Isn't that funny?

31:38 Isn't that hilarious?

31:39 I am a rich man.

31:40 A woman making money on her own.

31:41 Isn't that funny?

31:41 and then goes into this whole spiel about how owning

31:44 a business is the[ __] worst thing you could ever do.

31:47 Owning a business means that you deliver a product to customers.

31:49 It's a lot of work.

31:50 You know, it's way too time consuming and overwhelming.

31:53 Typical business.

31:53 You have to deal with endless problems.

31:55 You got research and development, product costs,

31:57 inventory management, logistics, customer support, payroll, you name it.

32:00 Most businesses are lucky to profit 20%.

32:02 And it's just like the absolute last thing you would ever ever want to do.

32:06 Okay?

32:06 And remember that for later.

32:08 He then shows his own personal Tik Tok shop.

32:10 I have a shop on Tik Tok.

32:12 Um, I have some products and stuff on there.

32:13 You guys might know that already.

32:14 I make uh t-shirts like crew necks.

32:17 Oh yeah, dude.

32:17 He has merch.

32:18 Holy[ __] Okay, forgot about that.

32:19 Let's see what Let's go see Russell Heartley's merch.

32:22 Pan Eater.

32:22 I hardly know her.

32:23 He's got 100% certified gold digger.

32:26 It's so ugly, man.

32:28 Also, this offensive to real gold diggers, man.

32:30 If you're not[ __] kneede in a river panning for gold, don't wear this[ __] man.

32:34 Future rich wife club.

32:37 Pretty ain't cheap.

32:38 Thank you card to my ex.

32:40 Okay.

32:40 Send a sincere thank you to the person who saved you from a lifetime of misery.

32:44 And all this is marketed towards like straight women.

32:46 So if they're sending this card to their exboyfriend or ex-husband,

32:50 they are not going to understand this at all.

32:52 Okay?

32:52 If the back of the card says,

32:53 "Thank you so much for saving my life." You know how dumb dudes are?

32:57 Your ex-boyfriend would will not pick up on that sarcasm, dude.

33:00 They'll get that card and be like,

33:01 "Thank you for saving my life." I guess we're back together now.

33:04 So yeah, he shows the back end of his Tik

33:05 Tok shop and he's got a whopping zero listing sold.

33:09 Damn, this guy knows how to sell some products.

33:11 It's not like a high income generating business per se.

33:14 Yeah, it's no income generating, dude.

33:17 And uh throughout this webinar, sorry, every time I say the word webinar,

33:20 I feel like a year has taken off my life.

33:21 That is the most embarrassing word to say out loud.

33:23 Through this webinar, he says the same thing over and over again.

33:27 And the message he's trying to portray is you don't have

33:29 to have a bunch of followers to start doing this, okay?

33:31 You going to start making videos.

33:33 One could hit the algorithm and pop off.

33:35 And that is true for the most part,

33:36 but the way he's saying that is like the worst way you could say it.

33:39 Most of these people that you're showing I'm showing you here are nobodyies.

33:42 They're not famous influencers.

33:44 Not they're just not nothing.

33:45 They're just literally nonf famous nobodies.

33:48 They're nobodies.

33:49 They're nothing.

33:49 They're dust in the wind.

33:50 They have no followers.

33:52 They're nothing to anyone.

33:53 When he said that, all I could think of was

33:55 that[ __] I think you should leave sketch with the babysitter.

33:57 It's like a hit and run.

33:58 Oh my god.

33:59 Should we call the cops?

34:00 Cops said that like the people she hit are just kind of like nothing.

34:04 Nonf famous.

34:04 nobody's like they don't matter.

34:06 To Russell's credit though, the next slide gives a disclaimer about like

34:10 what people can actually earn while doing this.

34:12 You're not going to become a multi-millionaire overnight,

34:15 which is nice cuz I feel like a lot

34:16 of times people when they're selling[ __] they're like,

34:18 "You'll make a billion dollars a second." So,

34:20 I guess it's nice that he's sort of he's

34:22 trying to stifle people's expectations a little bit.

34:24 On the right is doing cleaning supplies and uh she made about 152 grand herself.

34:28 At the same time, I guess he's doing the exact opposite.

34:30 So, I don't know.

34:30 stay-at-home moms making a ton of money, like insane levels of money.

34:34 Shows an example of Tik Tok shop affiliate marketing.

34:37 It's this video of a girl advertising a broom called the Helio Air Broom.

34:42 And it says that she sold 15,000 units and earned $7 a sale.

34:46 So, she apparently made $105,000 from just that one video.

34:50 And if that's true, that's[ __] crazy, you know?

34:53 Good for her.

34:53 That's wild because according to Russell,

34:55 people doing this aren't even influencers.

34:57 7,000 followers, that's nothing.

34:59 This is a regular girl.

35:00 She's not an influencer.

35:02 She's getting stuff for free on the Tik Tok shop.

35:04 She's posting about it.

35:05 And this girl is making hundreds of thousands of dollars a month.

35:08 Okay, not an influencer, but she's getting free product from a company

35:12 in order to advertise it and make money for herself.

35:14 Hate to break it to you, my man,

35:15 but that is quite literally the exact definition of influencer, dude.

35:19 She is influencing people to buy[ __] It was truly fascinating

35:22 watching this presentation just just knowing Russell Hartley's past and how

35:26 he used to market himself because there are several times throughout

35:29 this webinar where he is like directly speaking to strictly women.

35:33 Like he knows for a fact that there are no dudes watching this right now.

35:36 Y'all got sisters or sisters-in-law?

35:38 You ever come over to your house and you're like got to get that bottle opener?

35:40 Hey girl, watch this.

35:42 And goes just like that and takes the cork out automatically and they're like,

35:45 "Oh my god, that's so cute." And then you're like, "Oh my god, yeah, I know.

35:47 It's so cool.

35:48 It's so cool." Right?

35:49 He's like, "Where'd you get that?

35:49 A Tik Tok shot." Bro,

35:50 like that's like a middle schooler's impression of a woman.

35:53 Tik Tok,

35:54 but there is like pretty much only women there.

35:56 You can see in the chat the whole time.

35:57 Andrea, Astred, Lala, Isabella, Tish, Stacy.

36:01 I don't want to assume anyone's genders, but you know,

36:03 I don't think I' I've ever met a dude named Lala.

36:06 What's up, bro?

36:06 I'm Lala.

36:08 We then get a slide where he's, you know,

36:09 selling the dream to all the single moms watching this webinar.

36:13 Imagine a life where you wake up, get your packages from the mailbox,

36:16 make a couple videos reviewing the things you received,

36:19 received is spelled wrong,

36:20 and then use the rest of your time enjoying your hobbies and living your life.

36:24 And now is the time we finally learn what this is all about.

36:27 This is my company, Rise.

36:28 I call it, you're only one post away because that's literally how it is.

36:31 I'm I'm directly partnered with TikTok, like I said.

36:33 Oh my god, bro.

36:35 Helling ding ding ding ding.

36:37 Another company, dude.

36:38 Right after saying owning a business is the[ __] worst thing you could ever do.

36:42 Why would anyone do that?

36:43 He is pitching his company, dude.

36:45 And spoiler alert, I'm going to jump ahead a little bit because

36:47 he doesn't reveal the the price to people until the very very end.

36:51 But to be a part of Rise, which is this Tik Tok shop partner agency,

36:55 it is $146 to start and then after that it is $49 a month

37:02 and then a $49 a month service fee.

37:04 The $49 a month pays for a dedicated social media manager,

37:08 a dedicated product manager,

37:10 additional free samples, higher commissions, monthly retainers,

37:15 and health benefits for elite creators.

37:17 But the rest of the flat fee up front,

37:18 the $97 that you pay at the beginning on top of the first $49,

37:23 that's for academy tuition.

37:25 [Music] Of course, it's always a course, bro.

37:29 Every[ __] time with these dudes, it's a course.

37:32 And it's just to learn how to sell stuff.

37:33 What do you know about sales, man?

37:35 And the only way to make money is if you do it my way.

37:37 Inside Arise, you learn how to make money in my in my way.

37:40 Yeah, that's the best way.

37:41 That's the best way to make money.

37:42 Clearly, it's not, dude.

37:43 And that's the other thing I've always wondered

37:44 when people like sell courses with all these claims

37:47 of people making like hundreds of thousands of dollars

37:50 per video and they know all the secrets.

37:52 And if you know all those secrets to get super rich,

37:55 why not just use all those secrets to get super rich?

37:58 Why the[ __] are you selling a course, dude?

38:00 Shouldn't you just be doing affiliate marketing yourself?

38:03 It's like the if it's the best way to make money.

38:05 But, uh, after I heard something he said later on in this video,

38:08 I think I understand why he does

38:10 the managing instead of the actual affiliate marketing.

38:14 How many sales people do you have in Rise?

38:16 You mean like other sellers that are happening?

38:18 We have over 700 sellers right now.

38:20 So, there are over 700 sellers in the program

38:23 right now and they're supposedly making a bunch of money.

38:25 So, if that's happening, good for them.

38:26 But, I'm going to do a little bit of math real quick.

38:28 So 700 people paid $146 just to start doing this, which adds up to $102,200.

38:35 And that just goes right to Russell's company,

38:37 okay, before they even get anything.

38:39 And then assuming nobody cancels their subscription with the $49 per month,

38:44 that's an additional $34,300 a month that goes right to Russell's company.

38:49 And that money is going right to him.

38:50 He doesn't have to make any content.

38:52 That's money that goes directly to him without worrying about one

38:55 of his affiliate marketing video getting

38:57 into the algorithm and actually converting to sales.

39:00 You know, that's coming directly from like vulnerable women,

39:03 a lot of stay-at-home moms, stay-at-home moms making a ton of money

39:06 that are trying to make more money to cover their bills

39:08 or like put their[ __] kids in a nice daycare and[ __] Like,

39:11 what the[ __] Like, that's crazy, right?

39:13 So, the way this business works is Rise is

39:15 essentially a official Tik Tok shop partner and creator network,

39:19 which are real legitimate things that do exist.

39:22 and they pretty much all claim to do the things that Russell said that they do.

39:25 On the Tik Tok shop official website,

39:27 there's a whole page dedicated to uh Tik Tok shop affiliate partners or taps.

39:33 And I think that's what Rise would be because I

39:35 looked up what uh Tik Tok shop partners or TSPs are.

39:38 And a tsp deal more with the sellers of the actual product.

39:42 And the taps, Tik Tok shop affiliate partners,

39:44 they deal more with the creators who are doing the affiliate marketing.

39:47 Agencies share product links with the creators so they

39:49 can add the products to their showcases and promote them.

39:51 The commission splitting is then completed online via the tool.

39:54 Partner campaigns offer several benefits.

39:56 For agencies, a new revenue stream that allows agencies to collect

40:00 commission from sellers by setting up affiliate campaigns on their behalf.

40:04 For sellers, a way to outsource the creation

40:06 of campaigns and selection of creators to agency.

40:09 For creators, more opportunities to earn affiliate

40:12 commissions from product list curated by the agencies.

40:14 So, it can be beneficial for everybody involved.

40:17 One line in there made me raise an eyebrow.

40:19 A new revenue stream that allows agencies to collect commission

40:23 from sellers by setting up affiliate campaigns on their behalf.

40:27 And then further down in the article, it says,

40:29 "Click into the campaign details page to see all the registered products

40:33 as well as the commission rates they are offering for this campaign.

40:36 Note that this is the total commission rate that will

40:38 be paid to you and the creators in the campaign.

40:42 So, if this is saying what I think it's saying,

40:44 Russell's agency is not only receiving $49 flat fee a month from every member,

40:50 they are also receiving a separate commission

40:53 from that seller when that single mom

40:55 who works two jobs who loves her kids and never stops makes a sale.

40:58 And look, I wouldn't be mad about this if

41:00 signing up for Rise was free, but it's not.

41:02 It's $146 upfront and then $49 a month.

41:06 And then on top of that, they're still

41:08 taking a commission from a sale that you make.

41:10 Like, what the[ __] Like I said, I'm in Canada,

41:12 so I had no idea about any of this Tik Tok shop crap.

41:14 We just got FM radio like last year.

41:16 Okay, I had to do a bunch of research on the Tik

41:18 Tok shop to see if this business model that he's selling is legitimate.

41:22 And I have seen a few other agencies doing the same

41:25 thing as Rise and also charging people a monthly fee.

41:28 So, it's not just Rise.

41:30 I think the whole thing is yucky in my personal opinion.

41:32 I don't know.

41:32 I feel like as a creator,

41:34 if you are providing a service to not only the agency and the seller,

41:37 making the videos, posting them yourself on your own channel,

41:40 you shouldn't also have to pay them your own money.

41:43 It's like if the agency is making a commission on the back end as well,

41:46 like that should be enough for them.

41:48 Let's get back to the webinar.

41:49 Okay, maybe the services they provide are actually worth $49 a month.

41:52 You get a dedicated social media manager.

41:54 Now, what a dedicated social media manager does is your analytics.

41:57 Nice.

41:58 All right.

41:58 They do your analytics.

41:59 That's actually amazing, guys.

42:00 Like, you don't know the half of it.

42:02 That is the worst part about being a creator, man.

42:05 Every day I'm like, "Uh,

42:06 I got to do my analytics." Ah, my analytics are due, bro.

42:09 That's nothing.

42:10 That's nothing.

42:11 That's so nothing.

42:11 Guys, here's how you do your analytics.

42:13 Okay, you open up your analytics.

42:15 You look at them.

42:17 There you go.

42:17 You're done.

42:18 You've done your analytics.

42:19 The[ __] are you talking about, man?

42:20 Cater niche video recommendations, growth strategies, and one-on-one support.

42:24 Yeah, bro.

42:25 Like, you don't need any of this.

42:26 Maybe for a Tik Tok shop, you do.

42:27 I don't know.

42:28 I'm familiar with this whole world.

42:29 But if you want to make videos, just[ __] I just make videos, man.

42:32 That's oversimplified, you know?

42:33 And I may be biased because this is what I do for a living, but like even so,

42:36 if you want information about like growth strategies and[ __]

42:39 like you can find all of that for free online, like so many places.

42:43 For example, I found this video on YouTube that is

42:46 teaching basically everything that Russell is teaching for free.

42:49 This is all free information, okay?

42:51 I don't have a course to sell you.

42:52 This isn't some type of sales pitch.

42:54 The only thing you're really paying for is

42:55 the opportunity to be signed to his agency.

42:58 But an agency that you have to pay to be a part

43:00 of is a huge red flag in my own personal opinion and experience.

43:05 But let's get back to it.

43:07 Pay to play.

43:08 All right.

43:08 So, straight up.

43:11 Straight up.

43:12 This is a gold rush right now.

43:14 And I'm a gold digger, baby.

43:15 The thing is, here's the thing.

43:17 No shot, dude.

43:18 No[ __] way he's using the keep gambling meme format unironically.

43:23 Dude, it's also very fitting for him

43:24 to compare this whole thing to the gold rush.

43:27 This is a gold rush right now

43:29 because historically the people who made the most money

43:31 during the gold rush were the people selling the shovels.

43:34 Russell is essentially selling metaphorical shovels to these women

43:38 who want to make a bunch of money on TikTok.

43:40 Sure, you could do this by yourself and use

43:42 your hands to dig in the dirt for gold.

43:44 It would be so much easier if you just paid

43:45 me money and I gave you the tools that will help.

43:48 At least with the gold rush,

43:49 you didn't have to pay a monthly fee for your shovel to keep working.

43:52 I don't take from creators.

43:53 I foster them.

43:55 I make them good.

43:56 I incubate them.

43:56 I make them good salesmen.

43:58 And then once they start making videos that sell

43:59 and make themselves money and Tik Tok starts making money, then Tik Tok pays me.

44:03 Okay.

44:03 Well, that's a lie.

44:04 You do take money from creators.

44:06 You're taking $49 a month from them.

44:08 But again, hey, what do I know?

44:10 I might be wrong, right?

44:11 there is an option for agencies to not take a commission if they don't want to.

44:14 Like, it's not a mandatory thing.

44:15 So, maybe he isn't, right?

44:16 He probably doesn't need to take a commission because he's making[

44:18 __] $49 a month from each person in this[ __] program.

44:21 Dude, the other thing I'm confused about is he

44:23 keeps saying that you can just start making videos immediately.

44:26 Start affiliate marketing immediately pushing products and stuff.

44:28 You don't have to wait.

44:29 You just do it.

44:30 We have people start Tik Tok accounts following my training.

44:33 They started a Tik Tok account from zero

44:35 and made money within their first 7 days.

44:38 But everyone online says you need 5,000 followers on Tik

44:41 Tok to like to be approved to be an affiliate marketer.

44:44 So maybe if you're part of an agency, you can like circumvent that process.

44:47 I don't know.

44:47 He then starts talking about the all the benefits

44:49 you get if you become an elite creator within Rise.

44:52 And later in the live, he clarifies that to become an elite creator,

44:55 you need to be generating at least $500 of uh gross merchandise value per month.

45:01 And if you achieve that, the spoils the spoils are abundant.

45:05 You get one of his awesome gold digger sweaters.

45:08 If you guys get to an elite seller inside of um Rise,

45:10 I'll send you I'll send you a sweater,

45:12 which is pretty cool cuz those are impossible to find, man.

45:14 They're always selling out.

45:16 And then apparently you also get health benefits just like Siren Agency.

45:19 If you're with Riseze,

45:20 I have a I have a backstage access to everything you guys do.

45:22 I can see all your numbers.

45:23 I can see all your access.

45:24 I can see all your data.

45:25 Any problems with Tik Tok whatsoever,

45:26 I can I can get it fixed just like that cuz we have a rep at Tik Tok.

45:29 We'll call him up.

45:29 Okay.

45:29 If that's true, although I wouldn't be a fan of him

45:31 having access to all my personal[ __] on my Tik Tok page,

45:35 it is beneficial to have someone on the back end,

45:37 like if any problems arise, cuz especially if you're a smaller creator,

45:40 getting in contact with Tik Tok can be

45:41 very difficult and things can be pretty slow.

45:43 So, if you have someone to expedite that process, that is good.

45:46 I don't know if it's worth 50 bucks a month,

45:47 but you know, that's to each their own.

45:48 And at the end of the webinar, after he revealed the price,

45:51 he set off a timer for 30 minutes to indicate

45:53 how long people have to hop on this deal.

45:56 I'm going put this uh timer on the screen.

45:57 So, here's my offer.

45:58 even though I've had the check out page open

46:00 for[ __] days and it's the exact same amount still.

46:02 So, he just put that timer on the screen to evoke a false

46:05 sense of urgency so he could pressure

46:07 people into purchasing the thing right now,

46:09 which is very awesome and kind of cool.

46:11 He then spends the next 30 minutes answering

46:13 some questions from the women watching this webinar.

46:15 And we got some good nuggets during this segment.

46:17 I guess we're all co-workers now.

46:19 That's right, Laren.

46:20 We are.

46:20 We're working together now.

46:22 Yeah, all co-workers now.

46:24 You know how you have to pay your job $146 upfront when you get hired and then

46:28 there's no guarantee of any income no matter

46:30 how many hours you put into the work,

46:32 but then you also get to pay them $49 a month.

46:35 My dream job.

46:36 Great.

46:37 I am in nice Zoe.

46:38 I have knee surgery and plan to spend

46:40 my time learning and how to make money online.

46:41 That a girl knee surgery, you say?

46:45 He then gets a pretty gnarly comment that I actually can't believe is real.

46:48 Thank you for making it affordable.

46:49 Of course, Vanessa, thanks for making it affordable.

46:52 It's not.

46:52 That's not a $49 a month, dude.

46:54 That's wild.

46:55 I make money from TikTok.

46:56 So, I need you guys to pay a little

46:58 something cuz I know if you don't pay something, you're not going to do it.

47:00 It's like if I gave you free concert tickets,

47:02 you're not going to go to that concert.

47:04 I need you to pay something so that I know

47:06 that you're going to try and dedicate yourself to this.

47:08 Yeah, he's doing you a favor by letting you pay him.

47:11 You should be thanking him.

47:13 This is the women empowering message that he's been preaching all along.

47:16 either marry a rich man or pay an already rich man so

47:20 you can maybe make the same amount of money as he does.

47:23 Yes, queen slay.

47:24 But guys, the rebrand is clearly working

47:26 and this next comment perfectly illustrates that.

47:29 So your gold digger videos that entice me to your webinar.

47:32 Great.

47:32 I'm glad.

47:33 That's right.

47:33 I'm a gold digger, too, baby.

47:35 And he pretty much went the entire

47:36 webinar without the old Russell creeping through.

47:39 You know, you could see a few hints

47:40 of the old Russell in the way he imitates women.

47:42 A Tik Tok or calls women with no following nobodyies.

47:46 nonf famous nobodies.

47:47 But he could not go more than 90 minutes without falling back into his old ways.

47:51 You're here at Rise.

47:52 You're inside of my uh Tik Tok shop partnered agency.

47:55 You're under my um umbrella now.

47:57 Or you're my little chicken coop.

48:01 You're my little chicken coop.

48:04 What the heck?

48:07 Oh my god, dude.

48:09 Russell Hartley, stop comparing women

48:11 to farm animals challenge level impossible.

48:14 You could have said anything else, man.

48:16 You're all mayors in my stable.

48:18 You're all chickens in my coupe.

48:19 __] Jesus, man.

48:20 Old McDonald over here cannot help himself, man.

48:23 You're in my little chicken coop.

48:24 I don't know, dude.

48:25 This whole thing just seems like a[ __] waste of money in my personal opinion.

48:28 Assuming you actually do get all these benefits like more free samples,

48:31 higher commission, possibly circumventing the affiliate requirements,

48:35 and possible retainers from companies.

48:37 I feel like you shouldn't have to pay a monthly fee for these benefits.

48:42 If Russell's company is already making a commission from the seller every time

48:46 a sale is made or he gets paid from Tik Tok, as he says, then Tik Tok pays me.

48:50 And at the same time, it seems like a creator who is a part of Rise would never

48:54 know this because when you go through an agency for these affiliate deals,

48:57 again, according to the official Tik Tok website,

48:59 it says the commission rate that is shown to the creator is

49:02 the commission rate they are paid by the agency, not the seller.

49:06 So, the agency is essentially like a middleman in the equation.

49:08 And I think that's weird if you're paying

49:10 the middleman also on top of that, right?

49:12 And also on the Tik Tok website,

49:13 it says the agency can only collect commission from the seller.

49:16 The agency cannot collect commission from the creator

49:19 as this would be considered double dipping.

49:21 So, that's good that that can't happen on the Tik Tok shop,

49:24 but like he kind of is double dipping in a way, right?

49:27 because he's making commissions from the seller while also receiving

49:30 $30,000 a month from the 700 people paying $49 a month.

49:35 I looked up a bunch of other Tik Tok shop partner agencies

49:38 that were listed on the official Tik Tok website like VIP streamers and Taboost.

49:43 And it doesn't look like they charge an upfront

49:45 fee for people to be a part of the agency.

49:47 It seems like a lot of these operate like a regular

49:49 MCN where you apply to work with them and then if

49:52 they approve of you then you're added to their agency

49:54 and then they just make a commission off of what you sell.

49:57 I don't want to make it seem like Russell's

49:59 company Rise is the only Tik Tok agency doing this.

50:02 So they're not the only agency charging people a monthly

50:04 fee and[ __] I found several other agencies like Social Army

50:08 that also charges $49 a month and another one Brands Meet

50:12 Creators uh which is $97 a month which is[ __] crazy.

50:15 I think the whole thing is gross.

50:16 It's not just Rise specifically.

50:18 And also social army, just an awful name.

50:21 Terrible name for a business.

50:22 The[ __] is a social army, dude?

50:24 People running at each other in an open field

50:26 with swords and they stop in the middle and just talk.

50:28 And there has been positive reviews of both

50:30 uh social army and brands me creators.

50:32 But there's also been some negative reviews as well.

50:34 This creator made a video about how they

50:36 joined Social Army and that Social Army promised

50:38 a lot of like one-on-one coaching and[ __] but as soon as she paid the fee,

50:43 they completely ignored her.

50:44 I specifically asked, "Do I get a mentor?" She said yes.

50:47 I never even talked to her after I signed up.

50:49 And she stated in her comments that you

50:50 could learn all the same stuff for free elsewhere.

50:53 You really don't need to pay for anything.

50:54 I learned a lot more from free communities I'm in.

50:56 I'm in multiple free communities are a lot more helpful.

50:59 Once I did leave social army, my sales skyrocketed.

51:04 In conclusion, though subtly so, like many other people have pointed out,

51:08 it seems like Russell found out how lucrative

51:10 owning a Tik Tok shop partner agency could be,

51:12 realize he could use his like rich guy aesthetic

51:15 paired with quote unquote empowering messaging to attract single

51:19 women who want to make more money and then

51:21 somehow convince them to pay for another[ __] course.

51:24 And while I was researching influencer rebrands in general,

51:27 I came across Christian Walker.

51:28 You remember that guy?

51:29 He used to make a bunch of videos uh pandering to like a conservative audience,

51:33 even though I'm convinced he was like fully rage baiting the whole time.

51:36 But when you look at his current content,

51:37 it is the exact same[ __] that Russell Hartley is doing.

51:40 This was his old content.

51:42 Honey Bun, why do you need a month to celebrate who you sleep with?

51:44 News flash, nobody cares.

51:46 You have all your rights now.

51:48 Shut up.

51:48 And this is his new content.

51:49 I see a lot of men worry about gold diggers when

51:52 they don't even have any gold for anybody to dig for.

51:54 What's your type?

51:54 What type of guys you like?

51:55 What are you into?

51:56 Rich.

51:57 Rich.

51:57 And it seems to be working, man.

51:58 His videos are[ __] crushing.

52:00 And this style of rebrand is just so fascinating to me because

52:03 most influencers will come back with a new look, a new name.

52:06 But Christian Walker and Russell Hartley, they're both back.

52:09 Same name, same look, same everything.

52:12 It's just so crazy.

52:13 But I guess with the algorithm like so personally catered to specific

52:17 groups where you kind of end up in like your own echo chamber,

52:20 you can just like completely reinvent yourself and reach

52:23 an entirely new audience who are completely unaware of your past.

52:26 That is a totally doable thing if you

52:27 just say the right thing at the right time.

52:29 And I'd love to think that Russell has actually,

52:31 you know, learned from his past mistakes.

52:33 But I think just as a blanket statement,

52:35 if someone you follow on TikTok is trying to sell you a course

52:38 and is showing off all these people who are making insane amounts of money,

52:42 there's a woman right now making 700 grand a month.

52:45 If a man cares about how much money you make, he's scheming.

52:48 Please do your research.

52:49 Try to find reviews from people who actually

52:52 did it before you actually like give your money

52:54 to this person because you'd be surprised how much

52:56 you can learn for free on YouTube and Facebook groups.

52:58 And if you want to do this Tik Tok shop thing for extra money,

53:01 I'd say just try it out yourself.

53:03 See if you actually like it and enjoy it and are good at it.

53:05 And then if you're getting a little traction and you, you know,

53:07 do your research and see some positives in an agency,

53:10 then maybe apply for one of those agencies that don't charge you.

53:13 just don't just base level just don't give

53:16 your money to someone on TikTok who's selling

53:17 you a course that you really don't need in my personal opinion and I feel bad

53:21 for these women who are like honestly I

53:23 feel like they're being tricked by this persona like

53:25 this comment I saw at the end of his live

53:26 stream just totally bummed me out man I

53:29 just signed up I need help desperately so

53:32 sad I need help desperately and wow such a kind thing to do when someone needs

53:37 help desperately you go okay well yeah that's going

53:39 to[ __] cost you I hope this is the last video I ever[ __] make about

53:42 this dude It seems like he just keeps popping

53:44 up every few years with a new[ __] business.

53:46 That's insane.

53:47 So, I wouldn't be surprised if in like 3 years I'm making

53:50 another video about this dude about about his new[ __] trough business.

53:54 He's going to start a trough business and be like,

53:55 "Women, stop eating out of bowls.

53:57 You're all my little[ __] piggies.

54:00 I'm a rich pig farmer and you roll around in poopy

54:03 mud cuz you're a pig." Oink or something along those lines.

54:06 I don't know.

54:06 I got lightheaded after that.

54:07 Wow.

54:08 If a man cares about how much money you make, he's scheming.

54:11 All right, that's it.

54:12 Thank you so much for watching.

54:14 I sorry I talked for so long.

54:15 I hope you enjoyed this.

54:16 If you did, please press the like button cuz believe it or not,

54:19 one like equals one article I will pay to have written about myself.

54:22 Leave a comment, man.

54:23 Let me know what you think about all this.

54:24 And uh subscribe right now.

54:26 Also, I got shows coming up real soon, so come see my shows.

54:29 They're all the places I'm going to.

54:30 I'm so excited.

54:31 Wow.

54:31 All right, that's it.

54:32 I would stick around, but unfortunately um what the heck?

54:35 Paparazzi just showed up.

54:37 Be careful.